Former Hahnville High School and All-SEC defensive end Kentrell Lockett was lost for the remainder of the 2010 season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the Ole Miss Rebels 55-38 victory over Fresno State.
“This is a tough one for me to take,” said Rebel head coach Houston Nutt. “Kentrell is a great leader and a prime example of the type of player and person we want at Ole Miss. I was just sick to my stomach to see what had happened to him because he has worked so hard to be a truly great player for us.”
Lockett made six tackles and had one tackle for a loss this season for Ole Miss. He was considered a middle round pick (5th or 6th round choice) for the 2011 NFL draft before the knee injury.
The 6-4, 255-pound senior defensive end could apply for a medical hardship year if he decides to pursue playing another year of college football.
Oh no, Garrett
The life of a kicker in pro football is either feast or famine.
New Orleans Saints kicker Garrett Hartley is a true example of a kicker living the high life and then hitting rough times in the NFL.
The Saints lost a tough fought 27-24 game to their archrival Atlanta Falcons and in the space of a few minutes Hartley went from being a hero to a goat.
Hartley hit a 32-yard field goal to put the game in overtime, but with a chip shot field goal laid in front of him the player that kicked the Saints into the Super Bowl and then went out and hit three crucial kicks on Super Bowl Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts missed a 29-yard field goal.
Moments later Falcons kicker Matt Bryant booted a game-winning 46-yard field goal in overtime.
By the end of the day Sunday the Saints were lining up kickers to try-out, if they decided to jettison the talented, but inconsistent kicker.
It is obvious that Saints head coach Sean Payton has little patience with field goal kickers and Hartley is a player that, despite being a very consistent kicker in the past, is going through a tough football spurt.
He missed two very makeable field goals against the Minnesota Vikings in the season opener and almost had a game-winning field goal blocked against the San Francisco 49ers.
The job of a kicker is to come through when called upon and right now Payton is quickly losing patience with someone who was a vital cog in the Saints run for the world championship title.
But Hartley is not the only story in the loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons are a good football team, matter of fact I firmly believe that they are one of the three best teams in the NFC with the Saints and the Green Bay Packers.
But where they really beat the Saints was in the trenches.
The Falcons offensive line blew open huge holes for Michael Turner and Jason Snelling to run through and they accounted for 176 yards rushing on 44 attempts.
They also did a great job protecting Matt Ryan, who completed 19 of his 30 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns.
This was a bitter pill for the “Who Dat Nation” to swallow, but it is also the resurgence of the rivalry between the Saints and Falcons and they will meet again later in the year.
And bigger stakes may be on the line.
But who will be kicking for the Saints may be changed by that time…
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